


ERROR 401: RECOVERY

by Fanfic_Soup



Series: UNDERTALE.exe [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bad Puns, Bonding, Dark, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Manipulation, Multi, Possessive Behavior, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader-Insert, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-10-23 15:26:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10722072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanfic_Soup/pseuds/Fanfic_Soup
Summary: You had made your decision.You would sacrifice yourself to SAVE the world.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation of the series "ERROR 401: UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS". If you have not read that yet, I'd recommend you do.  
> That out of the way, please enjoy this route!

You closed your eyes and inhaled deeply.  
  
“I’m sorry, Seven, but... I can’t. I can’t sacrifice the lives of my friends just because I might die.” You took a step back from him. “I know that you might think that what you’re doing is right, but-“  
  
_“You... you don’t understand.”_ He had dropped his hand to his side, staring at you. _“You **can’t** understand. But, that’s fine.”_ He closed his eyes. _“At the very least...”_ He raised both his arms, and the darkness around you began forming into ghost-like creatures made of black data, advancing slowly towards you. _“ **I won’t let you die** because of that.”_  
  
Your (s/c) soul had sprung from your chest, something you hadn’t seen happen in so long that you were momentarily stunned at the sight of it. The ghosts lunged at you, clawed fingers bared, and you barely had enough time to get out of the way. “Wh- stop!!!” You shouted to Seven, but he ignored you, just watching as the data ghosts tried to kill you. You quickly re-arranged some nearby data into a weapon, only to have it fall apart in your hand. In your shock you barely avoided getting struck by a data ghost, falling to the ground to avoid it and scrambling to stand.  
  
_“Look, I understand. I know why you don’t want to do it.”_ Seven spoke, the ghost’s attacks slowing.  
  
_“But please...”_ You avoided another ghost’s strike. _“Please trust me, okay? This **needs** to be done.”_  
  
“No!!” You shouted back to him, barely avoiding a ghost. “I can’t do it!!! I don’t care what will happen!!” There was no way you could abandon this world. There was no way you could put everyone through another RESET, especially a **real** RESET.  
  
And suddenly, Seven was in front of you, a shadowy data-cloaked scythe in his hands and a blank look on his face. You had no time to react, and as you felt the scythe pass through you, you were absolutely certain you were dead. You could feel your soul break in half, and you stood, frozen and eyes wide.  
  
But... you weren’t dead. You stared down at your soul, a deep horror filling the pit of your stomach as you only saw half of it floating in front of you. By all means, you should have been dead, but instead the half of the soul you were missing was filled with thick black data, mimicking the missing half.  
  
You looked up slowly and shakily at Seven, who was now standing a distance away from you, the other half of your soul floating in his hand. He half turned to face you, a somber look on his face. _“I know you don’t understand it now, but... you **will**.”_ He closed his hand around the half of your soul, and you watched as it absorbed into his own body. You felt dizzy, and strange. You could see the darkness creeping up around you. _“Because you **can’t** die. I **won’t** let you.”_ He spoke with finality, and turned fully to face you. He raised his hand, and you could feel your body lifted into the air, your half a soul retreating into your body. _“So please...”_ He had such a sad smile on his face, it filled you with pain just to see it. _“Be good and stay put, okay? I promise I’ll come back to get you.”_  
  
Before you could say anything in reply, the darkness engulfed you completely and everything went black.  
  
~  
  
Papyrus stared at the tear in the sky, rolling his cigarette between his teeth restlessly. In every RESET, he’d never seen anything like this; He had been heading to the door to the Ruins, the way he normally did, when the air filled with a sickening cracking sound, and a wave of energy burst from the sky, causing the trees to bend and shake from the force. And then this... **thing** had appeared. And that was it. He’d been keeping an eye on it, waiting for something, anything, but... zilch. It was unnerving.  
  
Sans had, of course, chosen a more sunny disposition towards it, although it was easy to tell his older brother was worried despite his boasts otherwise. Frankly, he was surprised the Queen hadn’t made any address regarding it yet.  
  
“papyrus!! here you are, you lollygagger!!” Sans had come running from behind Papyrus, a determined look on his face. “you were out here boondoggling and you missed it!! napstablook just released a report from the capital about the tear!!”  
  
“Oh yeah? What’d he say?” Papyrus had never really liked the DJ robot, but he was basically the only news source in the Underground. He turned away from the tear to face Sans.  
  
“he said that- oh!!!!!!” Sans’ eye sockets widened, and he was staring past Papyrus’ head. He quickly whipped around and stared in shock as something thick and black came streaming from the tear at an alarming rate, straight towards the door to the Ruins. There was a loud crashing sound as it landed, and then silence.  
  
Both brothers stared in the direction of the unidentified object, and then at each other. “...I’m gonna go check it out, 'kay Sans? You stay here.” Papyrus stuffed his hands in his pockets, heading in the direction of the crash.  
  
“no way! i’m going, too, brother!” Sans followed after, a determined look on his face. “it could be dangerous! we have to go together!”  
  
“Sans-“  
  
“papyrus, i **am** the older one here! don’t worry, i’ll protect you!” Sans grinned happily, and ran off towards the crash.  
  
Papyrus sighed, flicking his cigarette into the snow. If there was no dissuading him, then at least he’d get there before Sans, to make sure nothing bad had happened. His right eye glowed orange, and he vanished into thin air.  
  
He re-appeared near the door, and he could clearly see where the thing had landed; There was a fairly deep little crater in the path in front of the Ruins, and many tree-tops and branches had snapped off and now littered the ground. He approached carefully, not noticing any movement or any tracks from the crash site; Was it just some kind of meteor?  
  
“so!! what is it?!?” Sans had quickly arrived, looking incredibly excited.  
  
“Dunno. Doesn’t look like anything came from it.” Papyrus replied, turning and glancing back at the tear. Yep, still there.  
  
“oh, so then it was- wait!!” Sans suddenly ran over to the crater, leaning over to look inside. “p-papyrus!! there’s something in here!!”  
  
“What?!?” Papyrus’ eye flared with magic again, and he quickly approached Sans. “Sans, get away from-“  
  
“oh no! they’re injured!!”Before Papyrus could stop him, Sans had descended into the hole, and was carefully lifting out a body. “papyrus! we have to help them!!”  
  
It looked human, Papyrus knew that much. Their body was limp, but... they were breathing. How had they survived that fall, and why were they in the tear? He didn’t trust anything about this situation, but... Sans stared up at him, his usual smile gone and replaced with an incredibly worried look as he clutched the human close. He closed his eyes and exhaled sharply.  
  
“Yeah. C’mon, bro. Let’s bring them home.”


	2. Chapter 2

The moment you tore open that data wall, he **knew** something had gone wrong. It had been a dangerous request to make, and in hindsight, maybe you weren't quite ready to actually comply with it; However, he **needed** to get there. He needed to enter that child's world, and utilize the latent power that was within it.  
  
He'd planned on explaining it to you afterwards, he really did. But now... now that was pointless, wasn't it?  
  
Before his eyes, you'd vanished. One moment you stood in front of him, an open tear before you, and in the next moment you were just... gone. He stared blankly at the empty space where you once stood, and as the concept of you being gone for good slowly settled into him, he felt something else bubbling up inside.  
  
The child attempted desperately to close the tear, but he moved quickly, forcing his way through what was left of it and into the gold Judgment Hall. They backed away, fear evident in the round, black holes they called eyes.  
  
"How... I..." They were at a loss for words, but that didn't really matter. He had plenty to say.  
  
"you.͟..̵ ͞what͡ ̸ex͝a͡çtl͝y d̢i̕d ͞you ͏d̸o͠ ͜to f/n?͢"  
  
"W-what? I haven't done anything, you need to believe me!" They looked shocked at the accusation, but he knew it was all a charade.  
  
"ŗi͘͝gh̴̵t.̸̷͡ ̴̛͏y͠o͞u ̸ju͝s̡̕͜t̵͜͜ ̸e̢x̶͏p͜ȩçt̸͢ ͜҉mę̷ to̢̢ b͏e̸͜ļi̧̨e͘͠v̡͘e̛ ̡t͝͞ḩ͠aţ͘͝?" He took slow, menacing steps towards the child, and they backed away. "t͢ha͞t͜ t̨͡͞h͏͢e̷̷y͏ ̕͠j̧͝us̕͞t ͞su̵͟d̶̡̨d̷̛e̶̢͝n̶̨l͢y͢ ҉ **̵v̶a̷nį̵͠ş̕h** ͠ą͢͝f̡t͜e̛̕r ̵o̷͞p͜e̵̡n̶͠į̢n̛͢g ̡̕͡a̶͞ ͜͡p͘͠or̵ta͞ļ͘ ̛̕h̢ę̸re̷?"  
  
"Please, you don't have to-"  
  
"s̴h͝u̶͢͜t͝ u͡p̸.̵" He pulled his blasters from the darkness, the blue threads connected to them glowing piercingly in the shadows. **"i̵̸̡̾̀'̿̉ͤͯ͊m̄͢͟ ̨̄̽͗̕͝g̛ͦ̂̇ͪ̿͛̍o̴͆ͮ̒̔͟ņͧ͊̑͐ͤ͆͟͜n͆͑̇a̡͌̆͆ ͬ͋̋͑̒̎f̨͑ͧ͑ͬ̏ͧͪ͜iͮ̈͊͐̊̊ͧ͢͠͞n̷͊̑̽̋͛͑ȉ̷́s̡̽ͧ̎̂̇̎hͥ̽̂̅̍͗̓͝**  
  
̵̀ͯ͌ͫ̓ͤ̂͐ͪ͟ **yͩ̐ͥ̂̐͏ô͒̇ͥ̾͑̏̎͘u̢ͧ̀̐̑͒̿ ̅̉̕ǒ̵ͯ͢n̸ͧ̉̂̀̑̋ç̡̏ë́͛҉ ̵̋͌a̍̓ͮ͆̈̉nͫ̽̄ͥͬͭ͂dͦ͋̄̉ͩ̈́͋͂͘ ̴ͪͭͩ̚ḟ̨̢̎̈́ͨo̓͊̍͝͞r̈͒̄̓͏̢ ̶ͩ̄͋͡aͦ̏̏ͪͭ͛͜͝l̨̈͛ͮ̂̃̾̂̓͏͞ļ̓͐̉.̸̨̑ͤ̈́ͥ̽̒ͭ͌"**  
  
He fired at the child, and they just barely managed to avoid the attack, diving out of the way. Without another word, they opened a portal and escaped through, leaving Error behind in the Judgment Hall.  
  
He stared at the space where the child used to be, his blasters pointed at nothing.  
  
"ḩ̡ͤͭ͘ė̴̆ͤ̽ͮͫ̈͆h̄͑̏͜͠ ̵̍̋ͬ͞h̾ͭ̇͆͐͌ͧ͜͟͟e̶̷ͨ̿͗̀̓͝h͂̑̓̐̈͜҉.̶̶̓.̅̃͑͛ͨ̌ͭ̽͏͏.̸̋̍͊͗̔ ̉͌͊̽ͯͩ̇̄͡h̢̧ͣ͒̓͆̈́̒e̵͋͐͛̿̆ͣh̷ͤͦ̒̄͗ ̸ͣ̑͆h̛̍ͧ͛͛͌ͦ͐ͣ͝e͑͗̄̓̆͜h̓́̔͌̽̓͑͟ ͌̌ͪ̈ͣ͟͜ḧ́͆̆͋͐eͬͯ͋ͣh͂̈̃ͬ̕.̧ͦ.̵̨͌ͮ.̸̶ͪͪ̅̽ͦ̓̍͡" He laughed softly, allowing the weapons to slowly drift back into nothingness. From this part of UNDERTALE, it would be simple to access the other AU's, even those that had always been too far away.  
  
With you gone, there was no point in hiding anything. There was no point in holding back. He was finally in the place he'd wanted to be for so long, and now he could fulfill his purpose.  
  
His smile widened, and he opened a portal to a new AU.  
  
Everything would be fixed.


	3. Chapter 3

_“ , please? I... I don’t want to remember...”_  
_“...I’m just not... there’s... there’s no way I can reverse it.”_  
_“I know. But... I can’t live like this. I don’t want to be scared anymore.”_  
_“...”_  
_“Please?”_  
_“...okay. If... If it’s really what you need.”_  
_“...thank you.”_  
  
~  
  
You awoke, slightly dazed, and completely confused. You shifted around underneath soft blue covers, sitting up and looking around the room you were in. It was neat and tidy, with a computer, a bookshelf, and a table with various action figures on it. There was a window, but the curtains were shut tightly, leaving the room in a darkened state. You turned, sliding out of the bed and standing, staring at the door to the room. Should you leave? You didn’t exactly know where you were, and that sort of scared you. When you heard voices inside the house, you knew you couldn’t just wait in the room until someone came... and after all, how bad could they be? You seemed perfectly fine. So, gathering your courage, you walked over to the door and carefully opened it.  
  
It was a moderately large house, completely wood. You were apparently on the second floor, since there was a staircase directly in front of you. Placing a hand on the banister, you carefully descended, listening to the voices.  
  
“you just don’t understand the complexity of tacos, papyrus!”  
  
“Well, I’d sure love to **taco** ‘bout it.”  
  
“papyrus!!”  
  
You laughed, and it went quiet. You could clearly see the living room now; There was a tall skeleton in an orange hoodie and black jogging pants with a white stripe seated on the couch, staring up at you. There was a clatter in the kitchen, and a shorter skeleton slid out, rushing over to you. His blue scarf fluttered from his speed, and he had a worried look on his face, staring at you with his blue eyes. “you’re awake! are you okay? are you still hurt?” He was examining you with such earnestness that you smiled and waved him off.  
  
“I-I’m okay, really! Uh, I mean...” When he stepped back to look at you, you felt a little embarrassed. “I... I’m sort of confused, though.”  
  
“huh? oh!” His blue eyes each filled with a star. “ i’m the great sans, and this is my lazy brother, papyrus!” He gestured back to his brother. “and you are currently in our house!”  
  
“I... I see. Well, it’s nice to meet you. But, uh, what I meant was... what am I doing here?”  
  
There was a moment of silence, and then Sans spoke again, the stars vanishing from his eyes. “papyrus and i found you laying on the ground, and so we brought you here to recover!”  
  
“Y’don’t remember why that happened?” Papyrus finally spoke from his seat on the couch.  
  
You shook your head, furrowing your brows. “No, I... I was lying on the ground...? That...” Your head hurt.  
  
“what’s wrong?” Sans gently touched your arm.  
  
“It’s... I just...” You rubbed your head.  
  
“Hey, can you tell us who you are?” Papyrus was standing now, approaching you and Sans.  
  
You nodded, looking up at him. “I’m...” You frowned. What...? Why couldn’t you remember who you were? “I’m...” No matter how hard you searched yourself, you couldn’t find that information. As a matter of fact, you couldn’t find anything before waking up in that bed. You looked up at Papyrus. “Who... who am I?”  
  
“you can’t remember that...?” Sans looked very concerned, and quickly pulled you over to the couch, making you sit and taking a seat next to you.  
  
Papyrus bent down and placed one of his hands on your head, turning it to inspect for any bruises or wounds. “Do you remember anything? Anything at all?”  
  
You closed your eyes tightly, trying to remember anything. You remembered waking up in the bed, you remembered hearing a voice in a dream, you could remember... there was something there, something in the darkness... eyes. There were red eyes with blue and yellow, a smile... “Error.” You spoke firmly, surprised at the sound of your own voice.  
  
“Error...?” Papyrus repeated, staring at you with an indefinable expression.  
  
You shook your head. “I... I don’t really know what that means. I just remember... someone.” You closed your eyes again, trying harder to remember more, but to no avail.  
  
Papyrus stood fully, sighing. You buried your face in your hands, rubbing your eyes. “...What am I going to do...?”  
  
“...” Sans stared down for a moment, before brightening. “you’re going to get some rest, okay??” You looked up, and into his starry blue eyes. “after all, you’ll never remember anything if you are injured!” He stood happily. “and then you will eat a delicious meal!! and then... then!! well, i’m not too sure what will happen then, but...” He grabbed both your hands. “you’ll be okay! I just know it!!”  
  
A weak smile made its way onto your face; He seemed so completely earnest about what he was saying that you couldn't help but believe him. "You're right." You nodded and stood. "Umm, is it... okay if I stay here? I mean, I can find somewhere else to stay, I'm sure, but-"  
  
"of course you can stay!" Sans cut you off, sounding completely decided on the matter. You glanced past him at Papyrus, who had been watching the interaction passively. When he noticed your gaze, he smiled lazily at you and nodded his head in agreement with Sans, you smiled happily.  
  
"Thank you so much! I promise, I'll find **some** way to pay you back!"  
  
"mweheheh! don't worry about it, friend! after all, it's the least i, the great sans, can do! now!" He hurried over to you, ushering you up the stairs. "get some rest!"  
  
"Yes sir!" You laughed, allowing him to herd you back to the room you'd been sleeping in.  
  
~~  
  
You rolled the big ball of snow beneath your hands, helping some of the kids in town build a snowman.  
  
You'd really only intended to stay with Sans and Papyrus for a short time, but... in the end, that had become a long time, and you'd grown used to life in Snowdin. A week in, you managed to remember your name; After that, you'd go out on patrol with Sans or Papyrus during the day, and in the evening you'd either chat with Sans while he cooked, or eat at Muffet's with Papyrus.  
  
Life was good.  
  
However, there was a nagging feeling that would always come back at night, like you were forgetting something very important; On top of that, the name you'd remembered still bothered you. You'd spend a lot of time thinking on it, and trying to decide exactly what it all meant.  
  
"Hey, F/n!! Stop!!" One of the kids shouted, and you snapped out of your thoughts just in time to realize you'd pushed the snowball right off the edge of a cliff. You stared at it, watching it fall until it became a white spot, and eventually a splatter on the ground, a sense of nostalgia creeping up on you.  
  
"Aww man!" The child scolded, staring over the ledge too. "C'mon, we gotta start over!"  
  
"Right, right." You laughed sheepishly, feeling bad for having dropped the snowball. "I'll go start rolling again."  
  
He ran over to a different pile of snow and began rolling a ball, and you followed suit, finding your own pile and starting over again. As you pushed the snowball, a familiar voice suddenly spoke from near you. "Hey kiddo. What are you doin'?"  
  
"Hey Papyrus!" You greeted the tall skeleton with a smile, standing and clapping the snow from your gloves. "I'm helping make a snowman."  
  
"Heh, **ice-y** that." He grinned, tapping the snowball with the side of his foot. Since he was only wearing slippers, it occurred to you that it must have felt very cold.  
  
"Wanna help?" You asked, leaning down again to start pushing the snowball.  
  
"Mm, actually..." He trailed off, glancing around. "I kinda had a question for you."  
  
"Oh? Okay, what is it?"  
  
"Can you remember anything, yet?"  
  
You paused, a small frown finding its way to your face. Neither brother had asked you about that in a while, and so you'd been trying not to think too much about it; The idea that you couldn't remember anything but your own name bothered you greatly, and you'd been unable to sleep at night. You sat in the snow, hands still on the snowball. "No... I try to, but... there's never anything there."  
  
He was silent, and you didn't want to look at him. You were scared that if you did, you'd see an expression you wouldn't like. When he finally spoke, he didn't sound at all angry, and you turned to face him. "Nothin', huh... That's no good." He was smoking now, looking rather pensive about something.  
  
"Maybe if I knew more..." You trailed off, your eyes suddenly lighting up. "Oh! Papyrus, where did you and Sans find me?"  
  
"Huh?" He looked over at you, a confused expression on his face.  
  
You stood, filled with determination. "Yeah! You know, where did you guys find me? Maybe if I can backtrack from there, I can figure out who I am!"  
  
His eyes widened a little, then he smiled. "Huh... Well, Sans found you first, in the woods by the Ruins."  
  
"The woods... oh..." You'd already been there plenty of times, and nothing had ever come of it. "He just... found me there?"  
  
"Yep." He answered simply, taking a drag from his cigarette.  
  
It was disheartening to know. "Just found me... I wonder how I got there, then?" Maybe you'd gone through the Ruins? Papyrus shook his head, lowering his cigarette hand from his mouth.  
  
"Well, don't worry 'bout it too much, kiddo. It's **snow** problem." You laughed a little at the joke, feeling sort of cheered up.  
  
"Yeah, I guess. Maybe I'll ask Sans more about it, later!" After all, if Sans had been the one to find you, he would probably know more details about it than Papyrus. You turned and began pushing your snowball again, determined to help the children make the biggest snowman possible.  
  
Papyrus watched your turned back warily for a moment, before dropping his cigarette and snuffing it out with the bottom of his foot and turning away.  
  
~~  
  
"Hey, Sans..."  
  
"yes?" Sans responded from the kitchen, where he was busily preparing food for dinner.  
  
"Can you tell me more about where you found me?" You asked from the table, watching him bustle around the kitchen. You'd tried to help him by actually being **in** the kitchen, but you'd quickly found out the mess was only increased by twofold, and before you knew it Papyrus had officially banned you from being in the kitchen at the same time as Sans.  
  
"of course i can! after all, what are best friends for if not that?" It seemed like an oddly specific thing, but you ignored that. "what did you want to know?"  
  
"Well..." You leaned back in the wooden chair. "I know you found me in the woods, but... where, exactly? What did I look like?"  
  
"oh, that's easy! i found you in a big crater!" He announced cheerfully, mixing some ingredients together. "you looked just like you do right now!"  
  
“R-really?!?” That information was a little shocking; If you’d been in a crater, wouldn’t that have implied a big impact? And if that was the case, how could you have looked the same as you do now, uninjured and clean? “You don’t mean **exactly** the same, do you?”  
  
“Yep. Exactly.” Papyrus supplied from the couch, a little ways behind you. He’d settled in to watch TV tonight, something he didn’t normally do.  
  
You stared at the table, trying to sort out the details. “But then, how... How could I have gotten there?”  
  
Sans paused in the kitchen, his smile getting a little smaller. “well, i think you came from-”  
  
“Hey, I got an idea. We should ask Undyne to take a look at them.” Papyrus interrupted lazily, peeling his eyes from the television and over to you.  
  
Sans had a full-on frown, giving Papyrus a scolding look. “pap!! don’t interrupt people!!!” The look quickly changed to thoughtful. “that’s a good idea, though! good work!!”  
  
“Undyne? Who’s that?” You looked between the two, confused. You’d heard of an ‘Alphys’ a few times from Sans, but never and ‘Undyne’.  
  
“she’s the royal scientist, of course! oh, but i guess you wouldn’t remember that.” Sans dropped the bowl he held with a clatter, his eyes turning to stars. “don’t worry, f/n!!! i, the great sans, will take you to undyne!! then you can get your memories back!!!”  
  
“Get my memories back...” The thought was exciting, and you sat up straight in your chair. “Thank you so much, Sans!”  
  
“You should probably wait ‘til tomorrow, bro.” Papyrus interjected just as Sans began to remove his apron in a hurry, causing the older brother to stop the action. “She’s probably asleep.”  
  
“oh, right.” Sans averted his gaze, leaving his apron on. “she likes sleeping, just like you.”  
  
“So, we’ll go in the morning, then.” You decided aloud.  
  
“yes!! bright and early!!” Sans affirmed from the kitchen.  
  
“Are you coming too, Papyrus?” You turned to the younger brother on the couch, and he scratched his jaw lightly in thought.  
  
“Guess so. I wanted to check somethin’ out, anyways.” So it was a plan.  
  
Tomorrow, you were going to find out who you were, and why you were here. And the thought filled you with determination.


	4. Chapter 4

It was bright and early in the morning when the three of you set out for Hotland. You were sort of surprised that Papyrus had managed to be up so early; More often than not you found the younger skeleton sleeping in various places, and you didn't think the idea would appeal to him. As for yourself... well, you were a bit tired. You'd had trouble sleeping the previous night, too excited by the idea of learning more about yourself, and when Sans had burst into the room to wake you, you felt like you'd only slept for an hour at best.  
  
Still, you were in good spirits as you followed Sans towards the entrance to waterfall. "So, we just need to go through here, right?" You asked Sans, and he spun around mid-step to face you, though continued walking backwards.  
  
"yes!! and, once we get through waterfall, we can go see undyne!!"  
  
"Great!" You responded happily, though the closer you got the entrance of Waterfall, the stranger you felt. You pushed the feeling aside as normal, though; After all, it did look sort of dark and scary in there, and it was only natural to be scared of dark, creepy places.  
  
You followed Sans as he blazed ahead into Waterfall as though it was something he did daily (which, to be fair, he did), and you subconsciously hesitated at the entrance. Something about the cave seemed so... ominously familiar, yet you couldn't decide why.  
  
"...s'matter?" Papyrus had stopped next to you, giving you a curious look.  
  
After staring into the dim-lit cavern for a moment longer, you looked at him and gave him a nervous smile. "I... don't know. I just... don't like it." You finished sort of lamely.  
  
He stared at you with an unreadable expression, then smiled lightly. "Don't worry 'bout it. You'll be fine."  
  
The words helped, and you gave him the best smile you could muster before continuing on into the darkness.  
  
When you stepped into the massive cavern and your eyes adjusted to the dark, you were surprised to find that Waterfall wasn't the pitch-black void it appeared to from the outside; Once you were used to it, you could see that the entire cave had an ethereal glow about it, a combination of luminescent stones embedded in the walls and large, blue-green flowers that produced their own light. You looked around yourself in awe at the beautiful surroundings, then smiled at Papyrus who stood in front of you. "It's so pretty!"  
  
He chuckled. "Y'think so?" He glanced around the caves himself. "It's not bad, I guess."  
  
You laughed. "Well, I've never seen anything like it!" You paused, then quickly added. "That I can remember." He didn't respond to this, and for some reason that made you feel a little nervous. "Uh, so, where did Sans go?" You searched around the cavern, but couldn't see the shorter skeleton anywhere.  
  
Papyrus turned a little, looking up at a higher ledge of the cave, then shrugged nonchalantly. "He probably ran ahead. My little bro knows this place like the back of his hand."  
  
"Oh." You frowned a little to yourself. You'd been thinking the three of you would stick together.  
  
"Don't worry." You looked up, and Papyrus was giving you a relaxed grin. "I can get ya through here."  
  
"Really?" You asked, perking up a little.  
  
"Course. I'm not the best spelunker, but don't take me for _granite_." He winked, heading down one of the cave paths, and you laughed.  
  
"That's terrible!" You teased as you followed him through the cave.  
  
"I thought it was pretty _coal_." He responded, shrugging.  
  
You thought for a minute, then answered with a grin. "Of _quartz_ you would." When he laughed, you felt sort of accomplished. While you didn't want to admit it, Papryus always acted a little... weird around you. It was almost like he didn't trust you; You'd notice him watching you on occassions, and it sort of unsettled you. That said, you couldn't really say whether it was really unwarranted scrutiny or not. After all, you didn't know who you were before you lost your memories. Maybe you'd been a terrible person.  
  
In that case, you couldn't really blame him for being wary.  
  
"(f-fn)!!!" You could hear Sans' voice echoing from one of the adjacent hallways, and you turned to face it. Before you could call back to him, he rounded a corner, looking completely ruffled. "a-alphys!! alphys is coming!"  
  
"Huh?" You had no idea what he was talking about.  
  
"Hey F/n, how 'bout we take a little detour?" Papyrus asked quite suddenly, and you looked between the two brothers with confusion.  
  
"i'll try and calm her down!" Sans announced, turning back in the direction he'd come from. Without any warning, Papyrus grabbed hold of your hand and began dragging you off down a skinny tunnel.  
  
"W-what's happening, Papyrus?!?" You were starting to get a little freaked out.  
  
"Not much. Just takin' a shortcut." Papyrus sounded calm, as usual, but that only freaked you out more. The path the two of you had taken was much darker than the others, and eventually you couldn't even see where you were going anymore, the only thing you had to guide you being Papyrus' hand.  
  
"But it seemed like Sans was really worried! Shouldn't we go back and get him?"  
  
"Nope." It was a simple reply.  
  
"Papyrus!" You intended to make him stop walking by jerking your hand out of his; Instead, you could hear him make a surprised sound, and then it felt like you were falling. You panicked and grabbed uselessly at the darkness in front of you, trying desperately to take Papyrus' hand again, but there was nothing there. Knowing you'd probably hit something eventually, you screwed your eyes shut and tensed up, awaiting the inevitable impact.  
  
When it came, it was much softer than you'd thought it'd be. You opened your eyes slowly and sat up, assessing the amount of pain you were in; Your back was sore from hitting the ground, and your arms kind of hurt from being jerked on impact, but other than that, you seemed to be relatively together. You shifted in place, looking down to see what you'd landed on. To your surprise, there was nothing there. As far as you could tell, you were seated on the hard stone floors of the cavern, with no discernable matter to break your fall. You looked at yourself again, this time bewildered. Why hadn't you gotten seriously injured? It felt like you'd fallen a huge distance from the section of the cave you'd been walking through. You looked up to where you'd fallen from, only to realize there was nothing but ceiling above you. You sat on the floor, completely baffled.  
  
After spending a moment puzzling over the situation, you came back to your proper senses. You were alone in an unfamiliar cave, likely with someone or something bad trying to find you. You stood, looking around the network of tunnels and trying to get your bearings. "Papyrus?" You called out, then waited a moment. "Sans?"  
  
You could only hear your own voice echoing back at you through the tunnels, and you shifted nervously in place. "...What should I do...?" If you went looking for them, there was a good chance you could get horribly lost. At the same time, staying in place just felt like a terrible idea. You folded your arms as you deliberated, then nodded your head when you came to a decision. "I'll wait." You announced to no one in particular. After all, you could always just run if, or when, something bad happened.  
  
That said... You glanced around the dimly lit cave you'd landed in, not really seeing anything of note. It was going to get pretty boring, waiting alone in an empty cave. You sat on the floor again, wondering what Sans and Papyrus were doing. Sans probably had no idea you were even gone, and Papyrus... well, he was probably going to be pretty upset with you. If you hadn't let go of his hand, you probably wouldn't have gotten into this mess.  
  
"Well, this is a strange sight."  
  
You sat up at the sound of a voice, searching the cave around you but not seeing the source. "Who's there?"  
  
There was a quiet chuckle from the darkness. "I guess you wouldn't recognize me. After all..." You saw movement, and a small, white creature stepped out of the shadows. "I don't recognize **you**."  
  
If you had to describe it, it looked almost like a cross between a cat and a dog, but... with hair. And wearing a shirt. You'd have called it adorable, if it weren't for the malice-filled expression on its face. "Who... are you?" You asked it, beginning to stand.  
  
Its face changed in an instant to a cheery, friendly smile. "Hiya! I'm Temmie!" In the next instant, its face returned to the previous smug expression. "Who're you, and what are you doing in **my** world?"  
  
"Y-your world...? I'm F/n." You warily introduced yourself.  
  
"I don't care about your name." Temmie snapped, giving you a dour look. "I want to know **who** you are."  
  
"What?" Now you were starting to get more confused than alarmed. "I **did** tell you who I am."  
  
"Wha- You're trying to tell me you don't even know?!?" The little creature seemed baffled for a moment, then a wide smile appeared on its face. "Well. That's unfortunate, huh?"  
  
"Y-yeah..." You couldn't tell if it was being sincere or not. "I'm going to see Undyne to get that fixed."  
  
"Ha!!" It scoffed. "Man, you're really open, you know that? Why would you just say something like that to me?"  
  
You frowned to yourself, brows furrowing. "I... I don't know..." You couldn't really think of a good response. When Temmie said it like that, it **did** sound like a stupid thing to do, but you couldn't justify it.  
  
"Guess you're missing more than just half a SOUL, huh?" Temmie taunted you.  
  
"What? Half a SOUL?"  
  
Its face fell again. "Seriously? Do you not even know that?"  
  
"H-How am I supposed to? I didn't even know I **had** a SOUL!" You rebutted. This was the first you were ever hearing about this, and it was only to find out you were missing part of it.  
  
"You know what? I like you." Temmie stated, seemingly out of nowhere. "I'm gonna help you out, friend! I'll show you your SOUL, okay?"  
  
"Okay." It seemed innocent enough, and you were genuinely curious.  
  
Suddenly, there was a strange feeling in the air, like something bad had just happened but you couldn't quite define what it was. To your surprise, you watched as something heart-shaped emerged from your own chest and came to a gentle stop a mere inch from you, floating in the air. Like Temmie had said, you could clearly see that half of the heart was a vibrant (s/c), but the other half... it was complete darkness. It almost looked as though it was leeching off the colored half of your SOUL, its dark tendrils ingrained into the (s/c).  
  
"What... why does it look like that...?" You looked from your SOUL up at Temmie searchingly, as though it could provide you with the answer.  
  
It merely grinned in response. "I don't know. But don't worry." You watched as seven little white beads of light emerged from Temmie, floating in the air around it. "You won't need to think about for long."  
  
The beads of light shot towards you, striking you almost instantly. You were surprised at how badly they actually hurt, falling to the cave floor in pain. "What are you doing?!?" You panicked, trying to avoid a second spray of the light pellets as they hurtled towards you. You could feel two of the singe the back of your leg, the light burning your skin.  
  
"YOU IDIOT." Temmie's face had gotten even more deformed. "IN THIS WORLD, IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED."  
  
"W-wait, you don't-"  
  
It cut you off, a mass of light pellets surrounding it and preparing to launch at you. "SO DIE!" You covered your head with your arms instinctually, hoping you could somehow survive the barrage.


End file.
